This text is an exhaustive account of the modern theory of iterative functional equations. Many of the results included have appeared before only in the research literature. The authors' main purpose is to introduce the reader to the theory and guide him through to the most recent developments and general results. Fundamental notions such as the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the equations are stressed throughout, as are applications of the theory to such areas as branching processes, differential equations, ergodic theory, functional analysis and geometry.

Marek Kuczma was born in 1935 in Katowice, Poland, and died there in 1991.

After finishing high school in his home town, he studied at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He defended his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Stanislaw Golab. In the year of his habilitation, in 1963, he obtained a position at the Katowice branch of the Jagiellonian University (now University of Silesia, Katowice), and worked there till his death.

Besides his several administrative positions and his outstanding teaching activity, he accomplished excellent and rich scientific work publishing three monographs and 180 scientific papers.

He is considered to be the founder of the celebrated Polish school of functional equations and inequalities.

"The second half of the title of this book describes its contents adequately. Probably even the most devoted specialist would not have thought that about 300 pages can be written just about the Cauchy equation (and on some closely related equations and inequalities). And the book is by no means chatty, and does not even claim completeness. Part I lists the required preliminary knowledge in set and measure theory, topology and algebra. Part II gives details on solutions of the Cauchy equation and of the Jensen inequality ...], in particular on continuous convex functions, Hamel bases, on inequalities following from the Jensen inequality ...]. Part III deals with related equations and inequalities (in particular, Pexider, Hosszu, and conditional equations, derivations, convex functions of higher order, subadditive functions and stability theorems). It concludes with an excursion into the field of extensions of homomorphisms in general." (Janos Aczel, Mathematical Reviews)

"This book is a real holiday for all the mathematicians independently of their strict speciality. One can imagine what deliciousness represents this book for functional equationists." (B. Crstici, Zentralblatt fur Mathematik)

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